During the last 50 years, there has been a massive and rapid expansion of higher education. The need to respond to global competitive pressures, increasing democratisation and increasing demands for a skilled workforce has made countries throughout the world invest in higher education. This investment is expected to guarantee economic growth and to increase social equality (Fägerlind & Strömqvist, 2004; OECD, 1987; 2008; Schofer & Meyer, 2005). However, neither economic growth (Schofer & Meyer, 2005) nor social equality (Berggren, 2008; Kivinen, Hedman, & Kaipainen, 2007) is clearly linked to the expansion of higher education. On the other hand, the composition of the undergraduate student population has changed, now consisting of a majority of women, and an increasing proportion of students from a non-academic family background. Similar trends, an increasing share of women, can be seen among post-graduate students, however at a slower rate. Men still make up the majority (57%) within post-graduate programmes (OECD, 2008). Equalising trends concerning the family origin of the post-graduate are not so easily found. The social class selection has already taken place at previous educational transitions. The equalising trends depend among others on field of study and on labour market prospects (OECD, 2008; HSV, 2007). For some fields of knowledge; such as, sociology, anthropology or philosophy, there is almost no demand on the regular labour market (OECD, 1987). This paper focuses on the selection into post-graduate studies and analyse the possible trends towards an equalising student body composition with respect to gender and social class. The trends will be studied in relation to the changing conditions for post-graduates, e.g. availability of post-graduate research positions, labour market demand. The results will be divided upon fields of knowledge to map out how different conditions within different fields might contribute to a meritocratic/functionalistic transition into research profession (e.g. Collins, 1979; Becker, 1974) or a transition facilitated by social and cultural capital (e.g (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990). The recruitment to post-graduate studies of the most talented students, the policies to improve social equality are in common for all industrial countries. Sweden is an example and its availability of unique longitudinal data makes it possible to study the development over time.

The data is an excerpt from the Gothenburg Longitudinal Educational Database, GOLD. It consists of a nationally representative sample of almost 10 000 individuals in each of four cohorts born in 1948, 1953, 1967 and 1972. The trend of who (individual characteristics such as gender, previous educational achievement and family background) and at what time point they achieved a Bachelor degree (and thereby became eligible to post-graduate studies) can be analysed. Among these eligible students, the selection into post-graduate studies, time point for entrance, divided upon faculty, will be studied. The results will be discussed in relation to the changes of tertiary education and of the labour market situation at different time points. The students can be followed until 2006. Different types of multivariate analysis methods will be used, for example survival analysis.

In addition to the broad understanding of the selection into post graduate-studies, this study will show changes over time with particular focus on the composition of the post-graduate students’ gender and social class background in different faculties. The results will be discussed in relation to the educational system and the labour market situation.